Freshwater swamp forest

As várzea the areas on the banks of the Amazon and Solimões are called, which are periodically flooded by the seasonal fluctuating water levels of white water. The Várzeas extend from 50 km at the middle Amazon River and 200 km in the estuary inland. Overall, they expand in Brazil on an area of 250,000 km ², equivalent to about 5% of the Brazilian Amazon. In contrast to the Várzeas the Igapó forest called flooding landscape of black water, while the Terra Firme forest stands on higher ground area outside the flood area.

The Várzeaböden stand out, due to the regular flooding and thereby sediment deposited by a high nutrient content from. The natural vegetation of the Várzeas are floodplain forests and on the lakes macrophyte. The costs incurred in flood nutrient-rich river lakes landscapes provide a unique refuge for fish and waterfowl dar.

The approximately 1.1 million residents of the várzea ( Ribeirinhos ) live mostly by fishing, logging and smallholder agriculture. The growing breed of cattle and water buffaloes in the Várzeagebieten leads to disturbance of these ecosystems.

Seen from the air see this várzea like dark commas in the jungle.

• Ecosystem